The invention relates to an improved coupler carrier assembly. More particularly, the invention relates to such assemblies which involve couplers that angle vertically with respect to the railway car to negotiate vertical curves.
Railway car couplers that are required to angle vertically with respect to the car, e.g., in order for the car to negotiate vertical curves, are often resiliently supported by springs that are partially compressed to a height that holds the coupler shank substantially horizontal. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,680,526 and 2,899,083. One disadvantage of such systems is the amount of wear which occurs between the contacting surfaces of the spring basket (which carries the springs) and the coupler carrier as the basket and carrier move relative to each other.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,128 discloses a carrier coupler assembly in which wear plates are interposed between the surfaces of the basket and the coupler carrier to reduce the wear noted above. However, the system of U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,128 requires that the wear plate be secured by welding. It is desired to produce a wear plate that can be secured within the basket without welding, and accordingly easily removed for replacement.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved coupler carrier assembly which exhibits improved wear resistance.
An improved railway coupler carrier assembly has now been discovered. This assembly is of the type which includes a spring basket defined by front and rear, preferably substantially vertical, walls, two substantially opposing end walls and a bottom wall. The spring basket acts as a carrier pocket with a plurality of, e.g., three (3) springs disposed therein. A coupler carrier, having an upper substantially horizontal plate portion for supporting a coupler, has a lower portion at least partially disposed in the spring basket. This coupler carrier, including the lower portion, having front and rear walls, preferably substantially vertical front and rear walls, is supported on the compression springs for vertical movement in the spring basket.
The present improvement involves a wear element defined by a front wall, a rear wall and a bottom wall. This wear element is located so that the front, rear and bottom walls of the wear element are adjacent to, preferably in contact with, at least a portion of the inner surfaces of the front, rear and bottom walls of the spring basket, respectively. The wear element acts to reduce contact between the spring basket and the coupler carrier as the basket and carrier e.g., lower portion thereof, move in relation to each other.
Other preferred embodiments will be illustrated hereinafter. However, the present assembly clearly provides improved wear resistance for the relative movement of spring basket and coupler carrier. In addition, the walls of the spring basket do not require special machining or shoulders to properly locate or retain the wear element. The unitized nature of the present wear element, with the front, rear and bottom walls acting as a unit, provides substantial advantages. For example, the wear element remains securely in its place more reliably than the prior art wear plates. In addition, in a preferred embodiment, at least one, and more preferably all, of the compression springs rest on the bottom wall of the wear element to further secure the element in place during use.
These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention are set forth in the following detailed description and claims, particularly when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts bear like reference numerals.